From Start To Finish: Red Team
by Viable-Solution
Summary: The SPARTAN II project became the whole point of a hundred or so children, it became their life, their purpose. In the wake of events that engulfed the SPARTANS. All they could do was Fight, and Survive. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Jason's eyes dilated at the sudden light as he and several hundred other children were herded into a larger room, much larger than any he had ever seen. He wearily found a seat and fell without thought onto the hard metal. Most of the children who were with him seemed to be as tired as he was, something wasn't right, if it was a dream than he would have woken up some time ago when he was in the ship. A woman walked up to the podium and began to talk about something. It wasn't really audible to Jason, but he did understand that he didn't have a choice in the matter, whatever she wanted them to do. There was something about being humanities greatest warriors, but the exhaustion from his early wake up call prevented him from even thinking.

After she was done talking, several men who appeared to be soldiers led them out of the large room and brought them to several different places. They found a room with an un godly amount of bunks and let the kids randomly take a bunk and fall asleep again. Jason hit the pillow and immediately fell into an endless darkness. An eternity seemed to pass before a rude awakening brought him to the land of the living. He groggily complied with the marine sergeant at the door and put on his uniform of gray sweat pants and a gray shirt with the U.N.S.C. Insignia sewn into the left chest, the number "064" sewn in as well, blending in with everyone else. Jason winced as a kid who failed to comply got a stun baton in the side, causing him to writhe on the ground. The morning was gray with fog and the grass felt wet even through his shoes. They were organized into rows. A man from the previous night was there, dressed in a crisp white naval outfit. Several medals decorating his chest. His mouth moved but Jason didn't hear any words coming out. As his eyes began to droop, he felt a contact on his gut and he reeled in pain.

"Pay attention maggot!" a marine yelled as Jason picked himself up and stood straighter and the officer continued.

"Thank you Sergeant...now, as I was saying, every day, you will gather here for a series of exercises." He turned to the Corporal "Sergeant, push ups,"

He nodded "Yes sir Chief Mendez! Come on! You heard the chief! One! Two!"

So, his name was Mendez? Chief Mendez? Jason ignored the pain in his gut as he fell to his hands and straightened his posture, pushing himself up and down with a grunt. The instructor walked up and down the rows, putting his boot on one or two different kids who he felt weren't doing that good of a job, or just to torture them. Jason had been one of them. A muddy imprint of a boot on his back, staining his shirt and getting his back slightly wet. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of pain his his arms, the Sergeant stopped them and watched smiling as they picked themselves up.

"Alright maggots, lets do some laps," he waved and the kids groaned as they started walking towards the man.

He hit a kid in the back and they started to run, following the Sergeant in laps around the premises. The fog began to lift and Jason's legs burned like fire, his breath was burning in his chest, and his gut was still sore from the Sergeant's blow. He turned his head to look at how the others were hanging up. In the front was him and two other kids. One a freckle faced boy with light brown hair, and the other a girl with mid length brown hair. On one's back read "117" and on the others it read "087". He looked behind and saw another girl with mid length hair, except hers was a dark red, she had brown eyes, and she seemed to have a mildly hard time keeping up. But as soon as she saw Jason she picked herself up and began running a little faster. Behind her was a kid with short dirty blond hair who kept a casual pace. He seemed large for a six year old, but he also seemed more laid back than anyone else. Not a tired laid back, but relaxed. Looking back ahead of himself, Jason saw the Sergeant beginning to lead them towards a building. They slowed down slightly as the building grew closer with each step. They started to walk instead of run, and great fully came to a complete stop inside a somewhat cramped hallway. It had a single red stripe running along both sides of the gray walls. The Sergeant lead them to a door, and they all clambered in.

They all took seats that had a small tray with milk and some cookies on it. Jason noticed the kid next to him beginning to eat and drink along with a large portion of the class. Jason saw the "117" on his back and noticed it was the kid from earlier. Before he could say anything, a female voice filled the room.

"Hello class, my name is Deja," a small holographic woman appeared on what appeared to be a desk in the front of the 'classroom' and some of the kids stopped what they were doing to look at her, she smiled slightly before continuing "From now on, in place of your regular schooling, I will be teaching you,"

There was an uneasy shuffling in a few seats and Deja continued "Today, we will start with the Spartans of Thermopile. The Spartans were a group of warriors trained from a very young age to be the best fighters and the strongest soldiers. At one point, a group of three hundred of these warriors..."

Her voice trailed off to Jason as he began watching a holographic battle. Tiny soldiers dancing an endless dance as spears and swords flashed. Capes flared, and men died. He noticed "117" reach over while Jason was watching and take some of his food that he wasn't eating, but he chose to not care. This was ten times better than the pitiful snack the soldiers had given them. At least Jason felt that way. There were a few words that stuck with him, and made him grin.

"You are our Spartans,"


	2. Scattered gathering

**_A/N: First actual chapter, thank you to those who have pointed out a couple things for me. I appreciate it. Enjoy the chapter!_**

Jason heaved as he and his two partners ran at the obstacle course in front of them. Comprised of ropes, pulleys, and other assorted challenges, the Spartans were expected to get through and ring a bell. They had been second to last the past couple days. They were going to get it this time and catch Mendez's eyes as he saw them. He looked behind to see his team mates, Erin-014, and Karid-112 grinning and nodding back to the others that were behind them. The only team in front of them this time, was John's. They weren't going to beat them, but Jason, Erin, and Karid could do just as good. Without breaking pace Jason reached out and grabbed a rope, swinging him off his feet and into the air. He grabbed up with his other hand and started to climb as he felt the rope swing further with the added weight being thrown in one direction. He stopped at the top as a platform allowed and looked down, helping Erin up and starting across a beam to another platform. Erin in turn helped Karid, and started on her way as well.

"Almost there...almost there..." Jason suddenly stopped and looked at his hands and saw blood coming down his arms. He shook his head and took a deep shuddering breath as he began yelling to his team mates "loose piece of metal! Watch it!"

He heard some acknowledgments and kept going. Letting go above the last platform he would need to be at. Getting up he grabbed a hold of the last rope and started to climb as Erin grabbed the rope and climbed after Jason, Karid following. Jason ignored the pain that coursed through his hands into his arms and kept putting one ahead of the other, climbing after their prize. His heart sank as he heard the bell ring and saw John looking victorious. He scowled and kept climbing, finally one of his hands quit working on him and his right hand released.

"Jason!" he listened to Erin yell. He reached up to grab but his fingers seemed stuck.

"Hey...064!" he heard a voice "come on!"

Jason looked up and saw John smiling and reaching his hand down from the top of the rope "Come on! Grab the damn thing!"

Smiling back, Jason reached up with his hand and let John take it and help him up. After securing himself, he reached up and pressed the bell and sighed as he began to slowly climb down with his team, and John. As they reached the bottom Jason looked at his hands and the dried blood covering them, and then looked at John's right hand and saw the still wet residue being wiped on his pant leg.

"Thanks, John," Jason nodded and looked at the ground, slightly ashamed at the fact he needed help.

"No problem...uh,"

"Jason"

"Right, sorry about using your number...I drew a blank, thats all I could see," He turned and began walking away "good job, maybe one day you could beat me,"

"I doubt it..." Jason frowned and lightened up as he saw Erin and Karid walking towards him.

"You okay?" Erin asked quietly and blushing slightly.

"Okay? He's fine, look at him, standing there all...fine and shit..." Karid shrugged and they laughed.

"At least we can eat for sure today," Jason nodded and watched as Mendez looked at John and gave an approving smile, and turned to Jason and gave him and solid nod. Wasn't a smile, but it made Jason happy to know that persistence was the way to get to Mendez's soft side. Walking over slowly to the trunk of a tree, he sat down and began breathing deeply, trying to stop the accelerated beating of his heart. One by one he watched the kids climb the rope and ring the bell and climb back down. Giving a short triumphant chuckle he picked himself up and began walking to the lines being made to the mess hall and watched the last place team slug themselves to their bunks.

"Hey!"

Jason twirled around to find the sound of the voice. He saw Mendez and hustled over, waiting for the reason behind his calling. When he raised an eye brow, Jason startled himself into saluting like they had been told.

"Report to a medic and get them to see your hands..." He said slow and deliberately.

Jason had no choice but to nod and hustle over to one of the troops who frowned and began taking something out. He felt pressure as his hands were tapped up and taken care of. Jason felt proud, he kept going, and got even a nod from Mendez. That was an achievement in Jason's book. He hustled to the chow line and found Erin and Karid waiting for him.

"Jees, you'd think after that exercise you would be down for the count," Karid smiled and shrugged "I guess thats not you after all,"

"Not anymore," Jason shook his head "I'm done messing around..."

The cold air bit at the Spartans in the back of the Pelican drop ship. It had been a while since they had begun their training. Maybe about a couple months, maybe about a year. Jason wasn't sure anymore. All he knew was that his birthday had passed, and what had he woken up to? Nothing special. His parents would have thrown him a party, given him hugs and kisses. What did the marines give him? The usual steel eyed look that they always gave. Come to think of it, Jason didn't really remember his parents. He hadn't heard their voices in a long time, and he was beginning to forget their faces. He did remember his younger brother however. That small little baby staring up at whoever was staring down. Jason let out a slow chuckle as he ignored the biting cold. Most of the kids were shaking, he was used to the cold. He smiled as he saw John doing the same as Jason was. The only difference, was that Jason could see the slightest shaking. His eyes rarely missed anything.

A sound caught his attention from his left, a marine was listening to the com chatter when a voice broke through "Five minutes till first drop off point Sergeant," he heard the pilot announce.

John turned and everyone huddled "Alright, heres what we do...we aren't leaving anyone behind..." he thought for a minute "so heres what we do, we ..." he paused as the hatch opened and the kids looked out "there..." he pointed towards spot out in the open world "we all head there and meet up...the password is this..." he let out a six note whistle and then waited for everyone to nod after trying it themselves over the roar of the Pelican's engines.

Everyone nodded and the marine began to take notice and they stared at the opening a little longer before a kid was given a piece of a map and pushed out of the pelican along with a couple others. The Pelican took off again and the process repeated, constantly recycling itself until it was just Justin sitting alone in the blood bucket. He hatch dropped again and he sat up, stood up, and looked out. He thought to himself for a minute before a piece of the map was given to him and he was kicked out of the pelican. Landing with a thud on the ground, his breath leaving him in white wisps of air.

Everything was white, no dirt was seen prior to Jason stepping across things and kicking the snow off. He stared up at the barely visible sun.

"So...we came from the..." he looked around a little more "we flew in from the south...which means we crossed over that clearing from the south...but then we turned east..." he ruffled his head "damn it...I better start moving..."

Erin looked around nervously. A large majority of the Spartans were there, the only two she couldn't clearly see were Jason and Karid. There were without a doubt more Spartans needed to complete the group. But for the most part, it was just them that she cared about. Especially Jason. She froze as she heard John start to talk.

"Alright, lets start moving...maybe they'll meet up with us along the way."

"John, I still don't see anyone else," Kelly replied coming through the assorted kids. Some keeping watch.

"I know, but we need to get moving...we won't leave them behind, I can guarantee it won't happen, but we need to start moving. Its too cold to stay here and do nothing." He looked at the ground and then at the sky "come on, lets move!" he started to move in what seemed to be a random direction. Regardless everyone started to move with him.

"Jason...Karid...hurry up please!" Erin started moving with the group and saw someone was having a little trouble.

"You okay?" Erin walked up slowly.

The girl limping looked away and then back at her and slowly nodded "Foots hurt...I could use some help if thats cool with you,"

Erin nodded and offered her shoulder "No problem..."

They started walking and started to catch up with the others. The day seemed to drag on forever, and there was no sign of either of her two other team mates. But others kept appearing, so she kept her hopes up until they stopped so everyone could rest. And it was just those two, no HER two team mates missing. She sat down and looked around, and slowly fell asleep.

Jason growled to himself as he and Karid scuttled over a couple of rocks and took a look over the still white landscape. Endless stretches of the soft fluff going till the ends of the Earth from where he was at. Soft flakes floating down and touching his face. Despite the cold factor, he was hotter than he should be. They needed to rest.

"Nice Karid, we might be going the opposite way as the others!" He scowled.

"I don't see you getting any ideas..." Karid yelled back "its not like it was my idea to wait at the previous point and see if they showed up!"

"That was a mutual decision you dumbass!" Jason took a deep breath and calmed down "besides, neither of us saw the foot prints..."

"Well...we're probably really far behind...might as well...wait!" he stopped talking for a minute as he looked around "there!" he pointed towards a tree etched with words and with a small map.

"Whats that say?!" Jason got up, with renewed energy, and ran forward.

Karid began to read "_Jason, Karid, here is the map to the PZ. Erin._"

"YES!" They grabbed the map that had been folded up and tied to the tree and began to read it.

"They're all going that way!" Jason yelled starting to run to the west.

They both ran for what seemed like forever before they saw fresh foot prints, unworn by the falling snow flakes. They hit each other once before running forward and seeing everyone crouched down and quiet. They slowly crouched down and walked forward, trying to find Erin. She saw them and looked up at them with a smile, getting up and slowly walking forwards towards them.

"Guys!" she whispered as there was a small commotion now apparent in the backround "what happened?"

"Long story, no time, whats happening?" Karid replied.

"We found the pelican, but its guarded." Erin pointed over "John, Kelly, Sam, and a couple others went to take care of it...we have to wait for,"

"Olly olly oxen free!" they heard Johns voice.

They were beginning to move before Jason stopped and turned around. There was a second before a small voiced whistle came out.

Jason let down his guard and watched as a small figure crawled out. He hadn't seen this one before and shrugged as she moved forward without a word. He sighed and ran forward as he saw two tied up marines give him a slow stare. He noticed that one of them was one that kicked him off.

"Karma eh?" he walked forward and pulled a foot back, nailing him in the stomach "works two ways buddy," he ran forward and climbed into the pelican as he saw Deja in the cockpit with John. He took a seat and looked at the girl who had ran ahead of him and she smiled and nodded. It took him a second but noticed a large cut on her arm that had stopped bleeding.

"You okay?" He asked pointing towards the mark.

She merely smiled "Yea..."

It took him a second to recognize the girl as little Merissa. She was a generally gentle and simple girl. Shortest of all the Spartans that Jason had seen so far. She was the one who found the most injured, tweaked a broken bone and made it fine, or just stiched up a cut. She was better than half the medics on Reach. There was a short thump as the engines fired up and the Pelican began to lift into the air. Jason grabbed a bar as he stood up and walked into the cockpit. John was sitting down and Jason smiled. All this time Jason had been trying to prove himself better than John in one way or another. It was just now that he was realizing it would never happen. And he was fine with it.

John was bound to be a great man some day. If there was a god, John would be the last of any of the Spartans to find out. Without looking Jason began to back up and he sat down on an empty seat on the floor of the pelican. Another kid had taken his seat and he looked as if he needed it more than he did. Jason laid back and listened to some kid snoring behind him. He instantly knew it belonged to none other than Karid.

"Your one tired sonuvabitch aren't you?" Jason laughed a little. He waited for a response and shrugged when he did get one. He closed his eyes and smiled as sleep took him.


	3. Change

**_A/N: Well here we are...it took me a while, but I think it was worth it. I'm still looking for reviews, but thanks to those who are leaving them! I seriously appreciate it! Anyway, enjoy!_**

Dr. Catherine Halsey looked at the Spartans as they were prepped for their augmentations. All of them were performing well, they also seemed to be growing fond of each other. One by one she would walk around and see how they were doing, some were already asleep, and others were taking a little longer, and others hadn't even begun for one reason or another. They were so small, but yet they seemed so big. It had been easily six years now, most of them were twelve, others just reaching eleven. They had trained endlessly, and somehow turned it into a small game. It had started out being who could eat, and slowly moved onto more personal ideals. One group in particular were constantly competing with another.

"Doctor?" she asked turning to a medic about to walk into a room "where is Joh..." she stopped and closed her eyes "Spartan-117...where is he?"

He thought for a minute and then pointed down a hallway "Right that way Miss Halsey,"

She smiled kindly and nodded her head "Thank you,"

She slowly walked down the hall, looking at the various Spartans being sentenced to a dream world where they had no choice but to go. She felt something in her heart give way to an emotion that she couldn't put her finger on. What was it? It wasn't happiness, or sorrow. No, something more powerful than both, something that if left unchecked could have negative...consequences. She slowly brought a word through her mouth.

"Guilt..."

All her life, she had only felt this once or twice. She hardly made mistakes, that wasn't the kind of person she was. And everything that she has done, was for a reasonable cause, and this was no different. She was a straight A student, and it all went uphill from there. As the colonies began to tear apart from the morals that had brought them together, and rebels threatened the order that the UNSC helped instill, she was the singular mind who thought of this project. The Spartan-II program. Soldiers bred for war, soldiers that LIVED for war. Somehow, those soldiers manifested themselves in children. The Spartan-Is had been successful...somewhat. But they had been too old, even if a few were young by adult standards. They're bodies had not adapted as well as hoped, and some were even dubbed useless and put out of commission. There had been a couple that managed to fight for a while. But they were, by ONI at least, considered a failure and as such it was difficult to get the II program started. But as always, Halsey had been able to convince them that it would work. Her persuasive abilities combined with the pressure coming from the rebels were more than enough. As the showed ONI the requirements, they hastily agreed.

Children, no more than six, were to be scouted out around the galaxy. All by her and a hand picked man. Lieutenant Keyes had assisted her, and she had found herself very fond of him. She shook her head as she smiled faintly, he had been generally unwilling to be in the spot that he was. But being the military man she had known him as, he accepted his duty and dealt with it. John had been one of the first, the little boy running up the hill in an attempt to stay on top. Well...Spartan-117 that is.

She stepped up to the glass plate and looked at the no longer small figure spread out on the table. She smiled as she saw his eyes still open and slowly starting to flutter shut. He never wanted to lose, never. It just wouldn't be him if he didn't try his best. He had been the prime genetic and physical match that she had hoped to get more of. He was strong even for his age, these augmentations would only improve him. Unless she was wrong about him all along. She severely doubted it though.

"Well John, let's just see how well you end up doing...you never would let yourself lose, so why start now?" She bit her lip and closed her eyes. Calling him by his first name, that was one of the worst signs she could ask for.

Parents called their kids by their names, by calling him by his first name Catherine had a thought. She was beginning to fill that void, at least she felt she was. She remembered one other face she had visited that day. He had been almost the exact opposite of what John had been. While John was fierce, competitive, and fit for his age. This one was laid back, he was for the most part disobedient. And worst of all, he seemed to take the blame to himself, even if it may not even be associated with him. What kept him in the selection process, was almost a fluke. He had near perfect vision, yes, he was also fast, but he was barely a genetic match. He was to be dropped from the program.

She stopped at the room in which Spartan-064 was being prepped for the augmentations. Jason had come further than she had expected. He was proving to be a better choice than the alternative, albeit wounded, candidate that would normally have taken his place. He suddenly turned his head to face the general area the doctor was in. She smiled and shook her head, he was looking for her. It was impossible to see her, the glass was polarized. Slowly he took his right hand and put too fingers to his eyes, and slowly drew a line to the glass where she was standing. She stood shocked for a minute as the medic in the room began to administer the sedative that would shove him from the land of the living. Metaphorically speaking of course. She looked at him one more time, this time however, there was awe in her voice as she began walking away.

"As the old saying goes," she stopped and took one last look back "Don't judge a book by its cover..."

a

_Ring around the rosey...pockets full of poesy...ashes ashes...we all...fall...DOWN!_

Jason's eyes threw themselves open as the fluorescent lights above shined light down upon him. His body slowly began to register a burning pain throughout his modified frame. He slowly remembered who had brought on this pain as he remembered the faintest image of Dr. Halsey's face through the glass. He felt confused, he had believed her to be a great woman until now. She was like his mother, the one that he had long ago forgotten. But now, all he felt was a slow feeling of hate inside him. She had been kind to them, as kind as she was allowed to be and he was lead to believe that she would have done anything for them. But now, he just wasn't so sure. His hate slowly faded as he remembered everything about her face for those few seconds. His eyes rarely missed anything, that had been proven over the past six or so years. There was something she must have learned to hold back. Sorrow. Tears. Pain. Had she honestly hated the idea that they would be in any sort of pain or discomfort? He probably would never know, its not like he was going to find out himself. Not like he would have any kids. He had grown to be comforted with the knowledge that his life had one singular purpose. To protect humanity from itself.

He turned his head slowly and observed the room. The medic was reading the heart monitors and slowly turned to face him.

"I figured you would be out for a little while longer," he slowly walked forward and tapped a tube that connected itself to Jason's wrist "well...make yourself comfortable, its going to be a while."

Jason watched the caskets being prepared and felt a sudden dread creep into his being. His team mates, his friends, his FAMILY, were in those caskets. The boys and girls he thought would be there with him till the end were all going away. Forever, never to be seen again. He saluted with everyone else on deck and watched as the first casket was sent out, then the second, and as the line of caskets to be spaced decreased Jason tried to read John. After the operation in which John had everyone meet up, he became squad leader. Technically, everyone who passed, did so under his command. Jason could only wonder what it felt like to watch people who you were friends with, not to mention their commander, being the true sign that you possibly lost.

John's face was like a wall that would never be drilled through. If there was one thing everyone had learned about him, it was that he didn't like feeling defeat, and he wouldn't let it show. Unless there was no other time or place to do so. But for one moment, Jason felt like he was one of the reasons they died. Maybe if he died instead one of them would have lived? He closed his eyes as the last casket was sent out and they held their positions. After a moment of silence that seemed to drag on forever, the words "funeral detail...dismissed," crossed his ears.

He set his arm down but didn't leave with everyone else, instead looking out into the blackness of space. Watching the sudden flashes of light from the caskets disappear into the abyss. He turned and slowly walked out and began to think. Was this the life that was now his fate? His future? The only thing that his life has meaning for? His head began to ache as he caught sight of himself in a mirror. He didn't recognize himself, not anymore. He was taller, and he looked like he could do anything. By no means did he look like he was a hero, he looked like a teenager who constantly worked out and kept his figure. He liked it, and disapproved of it. It was given to him, and not earned. Things like that bothered him, but it was the things like this that would end up helping him in the end. Thats what he'd learned throughout his time with the marines, what they give you can only help you in the long run. Even the bull shit.

He saw Erin and for some reason he froze. He couldn't even describe how she looked anymore. She was still shy, just like she had always been and always will be. She was about as tall as he was, definantly slimmer and while not as muscular as he was, she was still nothing to be messed with. Her brown hair was still short, but it was long enough that it was kept neat. No strand came below her eyes in the front, but a large amount of it went below her ears in the back. It had a spiked feel to it, but it still looked proper for someone like her. Jason definantly noticed her more, her defined legs, her eyes, and something he hadn't noticed at all before. Her chest. He shook his head as she gave a soft smile and waited for him with her hands held together behind her.

"Hey Jason..." she almost mumbled as she hit his shoulder gently "gonna be alright?"

Jason couldn't help but smile, he hated to disappoint or worry anyone as it was "Of course ill be fine...don't worry about it, its life right?"

Despite what he said, he wished that he could re-wind everything and stop this entire program from being made. It had ruined his life, taken his parents away, and ruined his chances of anything normal happening. But at the same time, he probably wouldn't have met Erin had they not. It was a double edged sword that was too sharp for its own good. But, like he had just said. That was life.

"I guess for us it is..." she shrugged and smiled again as they reached her room and she stopped and shook her head laughing "you'll be fine, just watch those hands when you grab something,"

He grinned and remembered his hands when they were still training on the obstacle course.

"Just go to bed already," he pushed her gently in and watched as she smiled and shut the door.

He seemed in his own little world for a while. Things slow, waiting for his legs to carry him to his bed where he would spend several more hours alone. The only difference between now and when he had first started years ago, was that now the faces of those that had died would be with him. He thought of the young girl who had passed on after the operation, the shorter one. He didn't want to even remember her name. It was more pain to get in his way. But he couldn't stop it from coming.

"Merissa..." he sat down on his bed and then slowly looked around as he realized he had carried himself to where he wanted to be. If only he could carry himself home. But where was that now?

The UNSC had taken it from him, those six long years ago. He laid down and closed his eyes. How long till he could close them for good?

There was semi ragged breathing as Jason, Erin, Karid and Sarah walked through the forest. Red team was their designation in this training exercise. And they had an objective. Karid slowly stepped over a sensor beam as he patted the flag in his pants pocket. They were going to raise the flag if it killed them. Jason put his hands up and felt the hot air fall still around them. He walked forward two steps before the ground exploded at his feet and he felt the heat of the bullet tear past his leg and then his head. He took cover and watched the others as they were on the ground behind trees, logs, rocks, anything that could keep them alive.

"Damn ODSTs!" Jason screamed over the rattle of Assault Rifles.

"Those life shells?!" Karid screamed back.

Jason nodded and Sarah made a hand motion with her hands. She pointed at Jason and then pointed two fingers in the air, her pointer and middle, and hopped it up and down. Only he saw it. He grinned at her proposition and how simple yet dangerous it was. She wanted him to be the lucky little rabit. He nodded and made two motions with his right hand, telling the others to retreat. He got up and began to zig-zag through the woods towards the ODSTs positioned above in the tree line. He felt heat go by his side and felt a burning sensation. He screamed as hard as he could and fell to the ground, lying as still as he could. If these were the regular ODSTs that he was so used to seeing, they would think the others had retreated and they were no harm. What they didn't see was Sarah flanking around while they were occupied on him.

"Got you, you little fuck!" one of the two black armored Helljumpers yelled as they jumped down "not so great once you get hit now are ya?!"

"Hey, what about the others Carmick? Shouldn't we be-AAAGH!" there was a yell as he fell to the ground, helmet cracked and gun dropped to the ground.

"Settle down Hughes, whats the worst that can-" the man named Carmick stopped as he saw his squad mate on the ground and immediately picked up his gun and began to scan the area.

Jason slowly picked himself up and backed up, getting space between him and the now paranoid man, and began to run. The pounding of his footsteps caused the ODST to turn around swiftly and fire a short burst from his Assault rifle before Jason hit him. Tumbling on the ground for no more than thirty seconds. They wrestled there. Red team watched in great interest as they began to run towards the commotion, making it in time to see Jason's hands lifting from a limp soldiers head. Erin checked the other soldier for vitals. He was flatlined, and without a doubt the one Jason was still on had no line at all.

"What did you do Sarah?" Karid slowly walked up and prodded a body with his foot.

"Rocks hurt if used right, come on, pick up the guns they had...lets take a camp..." she replied picking up a gun.

Jason held up a hand "No more casualties if it can be helped..."

They all nodded, they wouldn't kill if they could help it. But shots at the legs weren't kills now were they?

No noise was made as the four spartans worked their way towards Camp Krammer. The reason behind why the camp was named as it was, had been lost. It was now just a joke the soldiers stationed there had that only they understood. Jason had taken a knife and Assault Rifle, leaving Karid and Erin to take the sidearms. It was all live ammo. They caught sight of the camp and grinned as they noticed it was time for the guards to change with the rested ones.

"Alright...heres the plan," images were drawn into the dirt by the barrel of Jason's rifle as he pointed at certain places, explaining as the plan formulated in his head "Alright...everyone got it?"

They all nodded, and they were off. Jason and Erin headed to the right of the camp, near the back in an attempt to get in and use a couple grenades they had found, flashbang unfortunately, to stir up the soldiers in the barracks. Karid and Sarah were going to be the "fake out" team in the woods. Causing a racket and getting out while Jason and Erin took care of the soldiers left in the base. Whatever happened after that, happened.

He held his position as Erin slowly climbed over the fence and gave the thumbs up. Following suit, Jason hopped over and crouched, looking around a corner and gunfire sounded from the North. Their cue. He ran to the door of the barracks while most of the troops ran out to meet Karid and Sarah. The door threw itself open and Jason quickly tossed the grenade in there, panicking, the soldiers attempted to kick it out. But not before it blew. A prolonged ringing plagued Jason while he moved onto the next barracks building. There was a moment when things slowed down as he watched two soldiers spot him and move to start firing. His instincts kicked in and his rifle raised and the trigger was pulled. The Assault Rifle spewed round after round at the two soldiers as they fell to the ground, one of them writhing and the other still. He twisted around and fired at three more. All three taking cover, and one clutching his leg as a bullet tore through an open piece of armor. He cursed as he realized he had technically disobeyed his own order. But that would have to wait. Erin fired two shots from her handgun before running over and picking up the Assault rifle belonging to the dead trooper no more than twenty feet behind Jason. Firing over his shoulder, hitting a soldier in the chest.

"Erin! Behind the barracks!" He yelled, backing up behind the corner of a building.

Soldiers slowly circled around them, pointing rifles at the two kids, seeing they weren't firing. Jason and Erin still held their rifles up at them, but the ammo count read empty. They were screwed. A soldier fell as a streak of condensation from a sniper shot tore through the air. The soldiers looked around before seeing the glint of a sniper scope in the woods, and hearing the click of a fresh magazine in a rifle. Three bursts sounded and three more soldiers dropped.

"Drop the guns..."

"Karid, took you long enough..." Jason let a small smile escape as he watched the soldiers slowly drop their weapons, faces contorted in pure disgust. Taking a magazine, Jason reloaded and pointed at the soldiers who now had their hands on their heads.

"One day we'll get some of you...better believe it you freaking little bastards..." one of them muttered slowly.

"Whatever you say..." Jason took the flag from Karid and lowered the ODSTs flag, replacing it with their own "whatever you say..."

"How many have you killed?! Huh?! Seven? Or eight?!" A soldier threw himself up and began running at Jason.

Seeing this, he side stepped, grabbed the soldier, and grabbed the back of his helmet. Using all of his strength, what was left at least, he tossed the soldier. There was a loud crack as his neck broke. His head hitting the ground first and staying where it was.

"Eight..." Jason repeated "just eight..."

[Locating files...

[File found, accessing file# 4526465

Chief Mendez sighed as he read over the newly filed report from the new ODST lieutenant at camp Krammer. Part of him was overswelling with pride, while the other felt like he should be disgusted.

"During exercise with spartan group 'Red Team' eight ODSTs were killed in action. Three died from broken necks and/or skulls. Remainder deceased from gunfire..."

The report dragged on and Mendez sighed. They were doing their job, but ODSTs were the crazies they might need one day. Who else was going to drop into hell just to kill something? The marines were good, but the Helljumpers had a special place in the UNSC. Always had, always will.

"Sergeant..." Mendez pointed towards the man in the corner.

"Yes sir?"

"Get me...Jason-064...I need a word with him alone..."

"Yes sir, right away sir,"

"And Sergeant?"

"Sir?"

"Make sure it is clear that he knows how important this is..."


	4. SplitLips

_**A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I've been busy and slowly working at getting this ready to post. I am still alive, and I am still writing. Just very slowly. I took a risk and went out on a limb of what a previous mission could have been shortly after getting the armor. Enjoy.**_

_**Jason grinned as**_ Sarah threw a punch at his side. He pushed it down as he side stepped to his left, keeping her right hand in his left as he brought his hand forward and caught her in the neck, bringing her to the floor. He kept her there for a few minutes as she struggled but eventually gave up.

"Alright...you win again big guy,_" _she waited for him to get up and he smiled and let go and helped her up.

"I know, I've gotten better at that haven't I?" He shrugged and laughed as he looked at the other two spartans, Karid and Erin, sighed and shook their heads. Clutching part of their arms or legs. Sarah was the only one who had tried to beat him three times in a row now.

"Still can't beat John," she replied snidely.

"Well, lets go see," Jason smiled and nodded his head towards the door. They were in one weight room of many in the complex they had been moved to.

"Alright, you first," Sarah took a sarcastic bow "oh he who deals ass kickings,"

"Spare me, come on,"

As he and the rest of his team walked down the hall, he noticed that there were several medics surrounding the door. They all looked in the direction of the foot steps and then went back to what they were doing. Jason grew a confused and concerned look as he saw Dr. Halsey, CPO Mendez, and John and his team walking down the hall. Jason walked up to a medic.

"What happened here?" He asked looking in as he saw several bodies lying on the floor "are those ODSTs?"

The medic looked at him and then the bodies and slowly nodded his head "Thats what your kind did to them..."

For the first time in his life Jason felt as if his world was falling around him. Not problems constantly happening, no, like the entire universe was collapsing in on itself and Jason was in the front row all alone. His kind? What was that supposed to mean? His thoughts became distracted as he watched an ODST stumble out and look at him. After a second, Jason assumed the trooper was going to turn and walk away. Instead he began to take shallow breaths.

"You...you...you and those other little...brats..." He started to walk forward and no one seemed to notice "you..." he stopped talking and pulled his fist back. Without thinking Jason ran forward and brought his right fist into the ODSTs stomach, while at the same time reaching around with his left hand, grabbing the back of his head. Jason slammed down.

The trooper slammed onto the ground and began to mutter words as the medics finally started to pay attention and do their job, loading the trooper onto a separate cart. Jason gave a slight look of disgust on his face before he turned and walked past the rest of his team, walking into the room they had just come out of and closed the door.

_**The room was**_ like one they had all seen before, every single one of the Spartans that had not been crippled from the surgeries, or killed, had been sent on several missions already. All had been a success. But this one felt different, the tension was higher than a normal briefing. Dr. Halsey, who was flanked by CPO Mendez, stood at a pedestal looking through papers. Eventually she looked up and looked at the patiently waiting spartans.

"Some few hours ago, we made contact with an unidentified alien force..." she began looking back down at her papers "the point at which this meeting took place, is the planet known throughout human space as 'Harvest'..." she paused for a second, taking a deep breath "a subsequent assault from this force, which named itself the...Covenant...was devestating. Our forces did their best, but the planet has been lost, there are no known survivors..."

An uneasy shuffling went through the spartan's ranks as they thought of what force could possibly be strong enough to destroy a UNSC battle group with such ease. Dr. Halsey took another breath and continued "Therefore...you are going to be using this," she nodded and a figure stepped out in full battle armor, painted green. The visored helmet swiveling back and forth slowly, looking over the crowd. Jason perked a little as he saw the faintest outline of John's face through the polarized faceplate.

"Maybe we'll have a fair chance then..." he grinned, thinking of how an engagement against their new enemy might play out.

_**The pelican bounced**_ as they hit slight turbulence. The four armored Spartans sitting in the blood bucket waiting for their chance to get their hands on the enemy.

"_Twenty seconds Spartans!_" the pilot called from the cock-pit.

They all nodded and proceeded to load and arm their weapons. Loading a bullet into the chamber of his S2-AM sniper rifle, Jason moved onto checking his M5AB Assault Rifle. Grabbing a few extra clips that he might need. The hatch began to drop and they all took a step forward, bracing themselves. Jason took two steps forward before he missed his third and rolled out. The air in his lungs left him as he bounced on the ground, catching glimpses of the others learning from his mistake and staying where they were until the pelican slowed almost to a crawl before getting out. The armor was thought activated, basically if he wanted his arm to move up, he thought it. It happened. It was like learning to walk all over again. But it was one draw back to an otherwise perfect armor system. He gathered himself up and looked around the area.

They were essentially in a desert, a few bushes here and there, but otherwise. Just sand. The spartans had been split up on the planet they had been sent to, so far, there was nothing happening where Jason's team was. Up until this point at least. Now it was Red Teams turn to get into the fight. Their turn to engage this 'Covenant'.

"Alright, wheres the target?" Jason asked taking a couple breaths before holding one.

"About five miles south of this position..." Sarah replied pointing her thumb behind her.

"Right, come on, lets get moving..." He turned and started to run.

"Just don't trip this time alright?!" Karid yelled ahead as he started to run.

Jason ignored the comment and continued to run, feeling the armor power him forward, clearing feet at a time. He checked his team bio signs in the upper right of his hud and saw that the heart beats could have been mistaken for someone taking a leisurely walk, maybe a jog. Of course, others didn't have MJOLNIR armor.

"CONTACT! RIGHT!" Sarah turned and pulled the trigger on her Assault Rifle, spraying shots at a sleek vehicle. It began to race towards them. Jason stopped and jumped to his right as the vehicle went past him, a strange echoing sound coming through the helmet. He paused for a minute and rolled over, getting up and looking at the thing that turned around and came back. This time, it fired.

"Get out of the way!" Erin yelled running and tackling a stunned Jason. He shook his head as he watched bolts of blue plasma scorch her armor and the vehicle pass over them. She rolled off and pulled the trigger on her weapon, sending steady streams of fire after the driver.

They all aimed and started to fire, Jason trying to get a clear view on the target with his Sniper Rifle. He got a sight on the things head, and he felt the kick of the rifle against his shoulder as the round sliced through the air into the back of the creatures head. But instead of the red mist he had hoped for, there was instead what looked like blue lightning coming out of the aliens armor. Without stalling, he pulled the trigger again. This time the thing fell to the ground headless.

"Come on! Lets check it out, and then start moving!"

Three status lights flashed green and they moved slowly towards the limp body in the sand. It was a bipedal humanoid creature. Except it had what looked like hooves for feet, four fingers on each hand, as well as mandibles instead of a regular jaw structure.

"What is this thing? Some sort of squid?"

"Split lipped freak..."

"Come on, forget it, lets move,"

Everyone nodded and started to move in the direction they were supposed to be moving in, this time going at a more casual pace, being more cautious than they had before. It was a few minutes before Erin started to lag behind.

"Erin whats wrong?" Sarah asked stopping and waiting.

"Damn thing clipped me in the back..." she stopped and presented her scorched back.

Jason's heart stopped for a moment as he thought of what could happen to her "Karid, see if theres anything you can do with that kit you brought...if nothing can be done, you go with her to the extraction point and set up a perimeter..."

"No problem," he saluted once before taking out a pack and moving to Erin who took an uneasy seat.

"Sarah, come with me...lets get this over with," he turned and started to run in the direction they needed to go.

Sarah didn't respond, instead merely nodding and running after her squad leader.

They didn't slow down as the distance between them and the other two members of their squad grew. Jason tried to remember the two objectives that they had been given, and he growled to himself as he forgot one of them. He stopped as the Covenant camp came into view and his first objective came to mind.

_"Scout enemy camp_"

"Sarah, set up here and cover me..." he crouched and started moving to the right as Sarah took out her sniper rifle and got into a prone position on the ground.

He squinted his eyes and began to strain to see more of the complex. Before he could take out his sniper rifle the images in front of him suddenly grew closer as his helmet's computer intensified the image. He ignored his slight shock and surveyed the scene. Small groups of hunched over aliens, come to be known as grunts, skittered around as they performed what seemed like mindless tasks. Some slept until awakened by a larger more humanoid creature. Like one that Sarah had dubbed a "split-lip". Other, more bird like, walked around without any thought as to where they were going.

"Well this sucks..."

There was a crackling on the radio before Karid's voice came through "_Sir...we may have a little problem...we have Covenant patrolling the area, we're managing to keep quiet and out of sight but you might want to make it back as soon as you possibly can,_"

He sighed "Roger Karid...hold out as long as you can and we'll be back..." he turned off the com frequency and took out his sniper rifle, looking over what he saw. A small screen over his left eye popped up and words began to appear as he made his 'mental' notes of what he saw.

Another smaller screen below it opened and there were two objectives listed, one checked itself off and the other highlighted. "_Inflict damage, record response, reach extraction point_"

He sighed and looked at Sarah who was still looking through her scope. He clicked a green status light once, paused, and waited till he got a response. He finally got one green blink and was glad to see the system working. One blink meant they had a target, and two rapid blinks meant fire. He sighted in on one of the bipedal 'split-lips' and blinked two green lights in rapid succession. There were two cracks from their sniper rifles as the fin stabalized fifty calibur rounds tore through the air at their targets. The split-lips armor flared and it stood for a moment before turning around as if it didn't happen. Jason frowned and pulled the trigger again, no flare, but a sudden burst of purple and the dropping of a body. There were two more cracks from Sarah's rifle and two smaller grunts went down just like the first she had targeted. Jason didn't have a second target picked out.

"Oh shit...time to go!" she jumped on her feet and started to run in the direction they had come from.

Confused he looked in the air to see giant balls of plasma hurtling towards them. He cussed and ducked his head under his arms and felt the heat from the explosion wash over him, overloaded minor sensors. He looked to his left to see a large crater of glass about eight yards over. It was then that he knew it was time to go. He grabbed his rifle and began to run, seeing that Sarah was too far ahead of him to catch up easily.

"KARID! WE'RE COMING BACK NOW!"

He waited as there was static and then the rattle of assault rifles "_Roger Jason, the PZ is hot! I repeat! PZ is hot!_"


	5. See What Happens

_**Karid popped up**_ from cover and fired several shots into a squad of grunts, watching as they scattered. He twisted around to be greeted with a weapon flying towards his face. He dodged and grabbed the Elite's arm, twisting it sharply before taking his shot gun and shoving it into his face. Pulling the trigger, he watched a mass of purple gore suddenly shoot from the back of the monsters head, throwing him away and loading a new round into the chamber, pulling the trigger again. This time hitting a grunt's methane tank, causing it to explode. He grinned slightly under his visor as he watched his handy work un fold and as he watched grunts spread out in an attempt to get away from the kill zone. There was another burst from an assault rifle as Erin sprayed a group of jackals from her concealed position by a group of rocks roughly three meters away from his position. He heard a hoarse reply from Jason.

"_Alright, we're coming! Hold our position,_" The voice crackled through the radio.

Karid didn't reply, but continued to slaughter what he could. Leaving what he couldn't. Suddenly a burning sensation entered his leg and the smell of burning flesh and a flashing red light in his HUD confirmed that he had been hit. He backed up and found his attacker, throwing his shot gun away he brought his assault rifle to bear and pulled the trigger, sending round after round at the jackal. Somewhere a bullet got lucky and the shield died as the creature staggered and fell. As if an Angel was there with a rifle to help them, a shot rung out and the fighting ceased for a second as the enemy assessed the new threat. As Karid turned back to see who it was another shot rung out and an Elite fell, the grunts under its comment scattering. Karid smiled as Erin seemed to relax slightly, but snapped back to the reality of the situation.

Jason ran up to Karid and slammed against a rock, looking at his leg and then back at the now severely limited attacking force. They had not counted on two attacks at once, and this was merely a bulked up scouting party that got cocky.

"I called for an immediate pick up!" he yelled as he fired the last of his sniper rounds, swinging the gun around and bashing an Elite in the stomach, throwing it away and throwing his fist forward, a sickening cracking happened as several bones broke in the alien's skull, it fell limp to the ground. He looked back at Karid and pulled out his MA5B "ETA, three minutes!"

Karid gave a skeptical look, even if it could not be seen "Thats it?!" he fired some rounds over the rock.

"Yea! We got lucky! The Covenant forces back there were mobilizing!" He yelled back, waiting to hear the roar of pelican engines.

"Yea, guess we did! Thats why I'm sitting here with a bolt hole on my leg! And Erin's been roughed up!"

Jason shrugged and at once the incoming fired ceased, the squeals of grunts faded as they ran, being the only surviving scout members. Dust started to kick up as the Pelican got closer to the ground.

"Lets move!" Jason yelled, giving himself to Karid to use as a crutch, watching Sarah do the same for Erin.

They sluggishly moved towards the opening of the dropship and they all piled in, Jason slamming his fist against the door to the cock-pit twice. They were ready to get out the combat zone.

"_Whats the verdict Spartan?_" The pilots voice carried through the speakers.

"Its serious, we're in for a long war..." he looked at the easily melted armor that Karid wore.

The armor was made for them, and on top of that the armor was made to be the best there was. Nothing short of anti-tank rounds could cause damage as easily as one bolt from those plasma rifles. Not right away at least.

_**Jason stood at attention**_ in front of his seat as Dr. Halsey and CPO Mendez walked in and Mendez returned the salute. They sat down and Jason looked around the table. Erin got patched up with relative ease, compared to Karid who got away with wrap and a splint. As well as considerable time with the medical experts they had who wanted to see what would work on burns to that degree that were effective and were easy to be supplied with.

"So, whats the situation Oh-Six-Four?" Mendez asked looking at Jason.

"Bad sir, they had a sizable operation going, they were looking for something," Jason replied meeting Mendez's gaze.

Dr. Halsey adjusted her glasses and closed her eyes "Well...they must have found it, they left merely ten or so minutes after you did...then-"

"-You need to see what happens if we can't kill off these things," Mendez broke in as the overhead projecter came on and showed video footage from a UNSC ship in orbit.

Jason looked away for a second as the Covenant fleet began to systematically bomb the planet. Looking back for a few minutes before the screen went dark and no new noise came into the room.

"There is nothing we can do if they complete enough of their invasion that they can do that..." Erin whispered.

"They could do it any time they want," Karid noted "They just like seeing us die,"

Mendez let them go on for a little bit until looking directly at Jason "Oh-Six-Four, take your squad and get some R&R before your next assignment. Your going to go into one of their bases, and cause some havoc."

Jason nodded and the rest of the team left the room, but he stayed "What kind of havoc, sir?"

Mendez grew a small smile, as if he had tasted something sweet "You are going to detonate a tactical nuke inside one of their bases...nothing as strong as the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, but strong enough to cause some damage. Our hopes is that maybe, some psychological warfare can be used to get them to fight each other,"

"I'm sure they'll be able to find out it was a human nuke sir,"

"Maybe so, but this is a planet where we don't have any colonies."

Jason looked at Mendez then his team "So whats the plan ultimately going to come down to?"

"You will be taken with a small frigate, the U.S.S. _Meteora_, and head to the planet, transport the tactical nuke to the enemy base, and detonate it after getting clear of the blast range, then you board the _ Meteora_ and come home, simple as can be,"

Jason made an in-audible sigh and nodded "ETA till mission start?"

Mendez crossed his arms "Mission starts at 0200, dismissed,"

They all saluted and walked out. It was quiet as they went back to their quarters and began to get ready. Jason was the first done, and the first in the armory. He started scanning the weapons when Erin's voice came into existence.

"So, going with your usual set up?" she asked with a curious smile as she tilted her head and leaned against the doorway.

"You seem happier, a little less shy," Jason replied smiling as he grabbed an MA5B assault rifle and multiple clips.

"Well, I don't know why..." she admitted still looking at him "why you grabbing so much Jason?"

He continued grabbing clips as he absent mindingly grabbed a bag "We're delivering a small tac nuke into an enemy base to see what happens...theres the chance we might be down there for a while..."

"What about food? Med supplies?"

"I have Karid working on the food...Sarah is on the medical supplies, hopefully using our duffle bags as well we can get stuff in and out without much suspicion, we aren't supposed to be packing this much after all..." he set down the six or so assault rifles with the two bags worth of clips and grabbed a few sniper rifles and proceeded to look through the different types of ammunition.

"How are you going to get this much on a warthog?" she asked walking forward, carrying her own duffle bag.

"They have an experimental pelican they're going to have us use that will hopefully get us close enough that we can disengage the warthog and toss our supplies on it...if worst comes to worst and we get shot down we don't have the luxury of bailing the mission at least we'll be well supplied. We set this stuff in compartments, bags strapped to the ceiling, anywhere we can..." he took a breath as he picked up yet another bag and began loading various explosives into it "the more we have, the bigger our chance of survival..."

"What do you want me to grab?"

Jason paused and counted what he had already grabbed as they talked. Six assault rifles, twice the clips, four sniper rifles, armor piercing and anti personnel rounds, four clips each. He had grabbed around a dozen grenades, two SpnKr rocket launchers with two extra rockets for each, as well as four Magnums.

"Grab some com equipment...spare parts we could use...I'm expecting the worst, lets just hope we don't get it..."

_**Erin looked out**_ the hatch of the modified pelican, staring past the warthog latched onto the tail. Looking over at the other three spartans she closed her eyes and felt each little bump that they seemed to roll over. She got out of her seat and checked the gear she had stowed above, then below, then watched everyone else do the same. She took one last look outside and tilted her head.

"INCOMING!" she grabbed onto the bulkhead above her and felt the impact of the ball of plasma, the heat, the pelican losing control of its systems.

"SPARTANS! BAIL OUT! BAIL OUT!" Jason grabbed his assault rifle, sniper rifle, and two or so bags before grabbing onto the hull, and releasing the warthog. As it fell Jason jumped out along with Karid. Erin took one last look around to see Sarah about to jump with some more of the gear, but failing as the pelican hit the ground several seconds later.


	6. Gathering Storms

_**Things were dark**_ to Jason for several minutes before his armor's systems came back online along with his field of view returning. He waited for a few minutes more before moving, feeling a sharp pain coming from his shoulder, he quickly decided it was a dislocation and slowly rolled his shoulder and with one sharp motion re-located it, grunting in dismissal of the pain. Getting up slowly, searching for his assault rifle, he surveyed the area. The pelican had crashed several hundred meters behind him, and Karid was nowhere to be found. Sarah and Erin were most likely still with the pelican either unconscious or severely injured, and they still had some of the most important gear. He calmly picked up another assault rifle after failing to find his original, and called up topographical information on the area. Stranded temporarily or not, they still had a job to do, and they were still going to do it. Unless something extremely dire happened soon, nothing was going to happen other than the mission being completed.

Upon looking over the information he found a small rock formation which lead to a cave about a mile past the pelican crash. He heard movement behind him and spun on his heel and aimed his rifle in the direction in which he heard the moving foot steps. There were three blinking lights, rapid in succession, and were positively from a MJOLNIR headlamp. Jason relaxed for a moment as Karid limped out, cradling an arm and avoiding putting pressure on his left leg.

"You alright?" Jason grabbed a rifle and walked forward towards Karid, cautiously looking around. He noticed Karid still had the bags he had jumped with. Food, water, and some ammunition.

"Yea...my arms just sore, but my leg is either sprained or broken, can't tell right now,"

"Well, we need to get back to the pelican quick, theres a rock formation we can head to about a mile past it, but we'll have to move fast so that the aliens don't find us," Jason grabbed the bags he had dropped after waking up, hefting them over his shoulder as Karid nodded.

They slowly moved south towards the Pelican, constantly turning so that they could cover the area effectively. Finally they heard sparks and the thud of heavy armor. Jason's heart skipped a beat as Erin slowly crawled out of the wreck. His heart sank as she pulled off her helmet and started to throw up blood. He raced over to her and put a hand on her back, motioning for Karid to check Sarah.

Erin shook her head "We can't move her!" she gasped as she breathed in "she's got...something through her...chest!" she tossed up another heap of liquid, this time water with some of the food they had eaten earlier.

"She's right, looks like a small support rod from the floor stuck up, shes leaning against the wall with it through the right side of her chest...Jason without med attention she's not gonna make it..."

"What level med attention?"

"At this point she could do with a removal...some biofoam used to help stop any internal bleeding...and those are really the only things we can do other than some minor field work..."

"Then that will have to do...Erin, can you move fine?"

She nodded and moved to rest on her right knee "Yea...I can move...I can shoot too..."

Jason looked at her for a moment before shaking his head "Look for any other bags, we lost some...but we have the food and water, look for anything long range or particularly damaging first,"

Erin nodded and got up, replacing her helmet, and running off to do her job.

Jason walked in as Karid started to get control of Sarah, grabbing her gently he started to move her up. Jason ran forward and grabbed her other side, nodding his head as he counted to three, they lifted and she let out a short scream as it slid out of her. They set her down and looked for any med gear.

"We can't find any here! We'll have to use what we brought in the bag that you still have!" Jason began to get frustrated.

As he yelled Erin came back with three bags "All I could find were the sniper rifles and a couple stray rockets, no launchers..." she reported setting down two bags "and then in this one...just some random things lying around I found that we had packed...couple clips for assault rifles...some magnums...food...managed to get little bits of extra water..."

"Karid...check the water we brought along, how much do we have?" Jason asked looking at Karid, keeping cool a little easier.

"Just enough for about two days...thats not constantly using it either...sparingly..." he grimaced and shook his head.

"Alright, Karid, carry Sarah and me and Erin will get the bags and keep you covered, i'll take point..."

They all nodded and they gathered what they could. By a minor fluke they had found some lotus tank mines and had packed those up. They started walking away when they heard movement. Quickly they hustled into the forest and knelt down, gently placing Sarah behind a tree they un slung they're rifles and looked as several small grunts came out and stared in awe at the wreck. Jason cautioned the rest and slowly began moving backwards. They all did the same and they paused as a larger warrior came out, clad in gold armor.

Jason tilted his head in wonder, it puzzled him that someone would take gold armor out into the forest. In then occurred to him that he was a leader, one higher than the other split lips, or Elites. He nodded absentmindedly as he watched blue armored Elites walked out with several other species. The vulture like creatures which sniffed around like Jackals, and more of the Grunts which picked up pieces of trash and laid it back down.

While he was staring in awe the others had picked up Sarah and their share of gear and had begun to move back, catching his attention by a red acknowledgment light. The gold Elite quickly scanned the area once more and stopped in Jason's direction, leaning forward slightly in thought. Jason stopped and stared back, feeling as if the Elite saw him and was wondering if he would make the first move. He was about to move forward when another Elite made a motion back towards the pelican, and Jason's eyes widened as he watched the two pilots stumble out with pistols in their hands. In a panic they raised their weapons and opened fire. In one swift motion the Elites and Jackals turned and fired with their plasma weapons, blue and green bolts tearing through the pilots. They were dead before they hit the ground.

Taking the distraction the Spartans hustled again and moved away with quicker speed than they had before. They moved over brush and tree stumps, constantly looking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed. Several hours passed before they reached the cave, being slowed by extreme cautiousness and un wanting to do anymore damage to Sarah than had already been done. They descended into the darkness and laid her down, turning on their head lamps and scanning the area, it was clear. Jason sighed and thought.

"Whats our next move Jason?" Karid asked leaning against the wall with a grunt, slowly lowering himself to the ground.

Jason was blank for a few moments before nodding to himself "Recon, Erin with me, Karid take care of Sarah and do what you can,"

They flashed their acknowledgment lights and Jason and Erin ran out of the cave, stopping just after stepping into the forest. They moved slower once they were inside its confines and began making way to the crash site of the pelican. They crouched low as it came into sight. Scanning the immediate area they didn't see anything, but there was the chance that it wasn't as clear as they thought. Jason thought for a moment and looked at Erin before activating the optics hardwired into his visor. He scanned the area again, putting on image enhancement and thermals. Nothing. He took a timid step forward and checked around him before walking slowly into the open near the pelican crash. Erin stayed back and aimed around with her MA5B assault rifle, constantly checking where Jason couldn't. Before Jason could get to the blood bucket of the pelican fire erupted from the treenline. He jumped sideways towards the pelican and aimed into the brush, pulling the trigger and spraying the lines as he jumped back into the limited cover the pelican provided.

"Erin! How many?!" He yelled as he ducked a green bolt.

There was a moment before Erin said anything "I have four different sources of fire, one firing blue bolts rapidly and others green with roughly a second between shots,"

"So two different weapons?"

"Affirmative, got a low light visual on one of the targets...one of the Elites we saw from earlier...rest are short...squat...they're the grunts," she said as if talking to herself.

"Got it, see if you can flank around the smaller ones, no sense taking something too big," Jason peeked out a mere second and firing a quick burst before throwing himself back into the pelican, a glowing ball of fizzing light landing where he had been. It grew brighter and Jason covered himself as it made a noise and exploded. His radiation sensor's flickered and his eyes widened as he realized it must have been a grenade. And that grenade had radio active elements. In a matter of seconds after the explosion he heard assault rifle fire and two grenades go off, this time traditional fragmentations. He rolled over and threw himself to his feet, rushing out and diving into the tree brush behind a fallen tree. He rolled as he hit the ground and popped up, rifle first. Scanning he saw that the elites were exchanging fire with Erin, most likely convinced that Jason was dead. Taking the opportunity he observed how Erin's bullets hit their armor and how after a certain amount of hits the shield over loaded. He also noticed they seemed to recharge when not continuously hit, flaring when they both overloaded and re charged.

Taking a couple frags from his belt he pulled the pins and counted off one and a half seconds, throwing them towards the Elites. As the grenades sailed through the air, they exploded about a foot from the aliens, throwing them to the ground from the concussive blast mixed with their surprise. Siezing the moment Erin ran forward and threw herself into the air, coming down with an iron boot onto one Elite's head, crushing it in a mass of purple and pink ichor that seemed to stick to her leg. She pointed her rifle at the other and Jason came trodding forward, carefully scanning the area. He looked at the alien and shook his head, un hooking his magnum from the armor's magnetic holster on his leg he put it against the creature's cranium.

In that moment Jason saw almost everything the creature was thinking. Not through telepathy, not through words, but through it's eyes. He had learned to express himself through his eyes and read expressions through others. In this one's he found hate, disgust, and pride in the face of death. It barked hoarsely several times in a row, as if trying to form words.

"Tough shit..." Jason pulled the trigger three times, leaving a second in between each one. Erin lowered her rifle and stepped off of the headless corpse of her eliminated enemy.

Jason looked at her with something resembling confusion and horror in his eyes. Though his visor obscured his eyes from the outside, he knew Erin had picked up on something. She was looking at him, stiffly before turning wordlessly and heading for the pelican.

'_She's changed..._' Jason though as he looked over the corpses, grabbing the odd weapons and grenades and carrying them to the pelican where Erin was grabbing bags '_She's usually more collected...sure she was right to seize the moment..._' he looked over her as she confidently did her job '_but she's never that brutal...thats something that...me or John would do..._' he realized as they stuffed the bags into the pelican.

"We coming back for these when we're done with our recon?" Erin asked kneeling down and taking a few deep breaths.

"Yep, thats the plan...come on, lets go," Jason said, masking his confusion in Erin's actions.

They moved through the dense trees and plants and eventually heard a constant and soft hum. One turned to dozens and dozens turned to seemingly thousands. As ts they reached the last of the thick forest their eyes widened in horror of the mass of the base in which they had to place the bomb. Hovering over the facility was four full sized, what seemed to be, battle cruisers. Fighters and troop transports flew around the perimeter, making the occasional dive.

"This is big...we're gonna need a huge plan to take these guys down..." Jason sighed "lets get back the pelican and get the stuff we grabbed..."

Erin suddenly seemed to panic "Shit we forgot the nuke!"

Jason shook his head "They figured this might happen...they're set up a second area for another Pelican...we were supposed to be farther than we are though so...I don't know how far we have to go, just that we should take some out when we can..."

She nodded and jerked her head up "INCOMING!" she screamed, jumping to the side and nailing Jason. Seconds after she moved an explosion rocked the ground, with what sounded like a vacuum slowly closing in on them from above.

Realizing what was happening Jason rolled over and got up, running forward with Erin as fast as he could "We've been seen! Head back towards the pelican! Split up twelve meter spread!"

Erin nodded and changed direction, moving parallel to Jason, but several meters away.

"Karid! We have a major problem!" There was a crackle on the radio, and no response "KARID WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION? WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" Jason screamed again.

Still no response.

"Maybe its radio silence, maybe he's close to getting attacked and needs to keep quiet?"

"His armor would block any vocals unless he was speaking through the speakers!"

"So then what else could be happening?"

Jason didn't know the answer, he wished he did. But as the plasma bolts flew past his head, his thoughts quickly changed.


End file.
